So Duke was shooting double bonus halfway through the 2nd half

[NJHAWK]

Amazing a team like Wisconsin who dont even foul were in that big of a hole meanwhile their players were walking around with blood, cuts, bruises and then some. Amazing the pull that coach K had in the 2nd half vs those refs tonite. Those 2 freshman were great but they also got every call known to man.

[Guest]

So in the 1st half Duke couldn't defend without fouling.  K makes his cryptic statement about Duke not being able to "make them (Wisky) foul *pause* " in his halftime interview.  Then, the second half becomes a Wisconsin foul-fest.  Strange.

 

That said, Wisconsin still had this game in the bag regardless of playing 5 on 8 in the 2nd half.  They should've won that game.

 

As an aside, Dekker pulled his textbook disappearing act.  Dude's talented but I'm scared of him.

[AHF]

Amazing a team like Wisconsin who dont even foul were in that big of a hole meanwhile their players were walking around with blood, cuts, bruises and then some. Amazing the pull that coach K had in the 2nd half vs those refs tonite. Those 2 freshman were great but they also got every call known to man.

So true. That ball odd of Winslow was a brutal miss as well. Duke played well and with some help it was enough.

[hazer]

My friend's post on FB:

 

"Duke charges, they call a block on Wisconsin.

Duke flops, they call charge on Wisconsin.

Duke charges. No call.

Duke steps out of bounds before scoring. Missed call.

Duke knocks it out of bounds. Duke ball."

[NJHAWK]

 

My friend's post on FB:

 

"Duke charges, they call a block on Wisconsin.

Duke flops, they call charge on Wisconsin.

Duke charges. No call.

Duke steps out of bounds before scoring. Missed call.

Duke knocks it out of bounds. Duke ball."

 

Worst part is I think Duke got Wisconsin to do the dirty work for them. Had Wisc played Duke sat they would have won because theyre main goal was beating KY. Also I dont think Duke could have beaten KY but those lucky bastards didnt have to.

Edited April 7, 2015 by NJHAWK

[DrReality]

There is a reason why people hate Duke. 

[jy23]

My god, cut it out. They had 2 fouls the entire first half. We attacked and attacked the entire second half. Tell me which one of those drives shouldn't have been called a foul. Our best player was in foul trouble the entire night but we got all the calls? All I heard after the Wisconsin KU game was that the refs cheated for UW....so basically whoever loses got cheated. We hit the shots when it counted and they didn't

[Guest]

Grayson Allen scored 17 points thru the first 4 games of the tournament until last night he had 16 points - there's your ballgame.

[AHF]

Even Bo Ryan ripped the refs publicly.  Seriously.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S3rLZq5pb0

[AHF]

The problem was the game just wasn't called the same on both ends down the stretch.  So much contact allowed for Duke on the defensive end.  Then you layer on top of that the missed calls it is hard for fans to take when they see so many, many things tweaked Duke's way over the years.  

 

Winslow tips the ball out of bounds - Duke Ball:

 

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/12634445/did-refs-get-wrong-crucial-bounds-review-duke-wisconsin

 

Winslow steps out of bounds - Duke Ball (Play On)

 

 

Add in the charge and blocking calls with eye raising contact called in Duke's favor on both ends of the court (i.e., more contact from offensive player leads to a block in Duke's favor while less contact on other end results in charge in Duke's favor).  It is just a repeat of what we've all seen before.  That type of edge swings games.  Give Wisconsin the correct calls on those plays and then give Wisconsin two bonus possessions like Duke got and you probably see Duke going down heroically instead of holding a trophy.  Nice for them that they didn't have to beat both UK and Wisconsin as well like you would expect from an overall #3 seed.

Edited April 7, 2015 by AHF

[AHF]

All that said, Duke doesn't win the game even with those benefits without the big offensive plays down the stretch from their guards so credit to them for that.  They hit some very tough shots in big moments.

[jy23]

Oh my bad that you feel we should have had to play both you and Wisconsin. I apologize for that. We beat two teams in the final four not once but twice this year. We were the better team period...I would have liked to play UK just to shut em up but we beat who we could.

[Guest]

I think my biggest takeaway was how many freaking sore losers and whiners there are in college basketball. Nothing the refs did were egregious, yet you had K snipe at the refs during a halftime interview and then Bo dogged them in the postgame interview. Add on that Izzo was sore after Michigan State lost and it is kind of strange (but not really if you follow the guy) that Calipari was the most gracious out there. Of course this is only the media side of things we see.

The players weren't immune to this. Andrew Harrison was a sore loser with his Kaminsky comments and then you've got Bronson Koenig being a little shithead on twitter:

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Players being sore losers is nothing new and not that surprising for young guys. Hopefully, you grow out of that phase in life. That isn't a given as numerous people never grow out of being sore losers much like there's no guarantee that getting older imparts wisdom and understanding. I can't recall the psychological terminology, but if I did I'd basically be saying that some people don't have mental capacity/understanding for growing the f*** up. And the same thing applies to fans who are out there blaming the refs when things don't go their way.

To see players/fans acting like shits doesn't bother me. To see coaches engage in this behavior is a different story...well OK it doesn't actually bother me but I thought it would be fun to point out. Anyway, college basketball is so ugly I don't see how people can watch that on TV. It's a different story if you're watching at the stadium, but geez TV takes 95% of the emotion out of it.

[Guest]

Lol, I think we can all agree that the game was unevenly officiated not only from half to half but even from possession to possession.

[Guest]

Lol, I think we can all agree that the game was unevenly officiated not only from half to half but even from possession to possession.

I'm revoking your ACC membership. {/sarcasm}

[jy23]

Lol, I think we can all agree that the game was unevenly officiated not only from half to half but even from possession to possession.

College basketball as a whole has bad officiating, but to say that that's the reason we won the game is just out of order. We hit shots in crunch time and they didn't. Period

[NJHAWK]

College basketball as a whole has bad officiating, but to say that that's the reason we won the game is just out of order. We hit shots in crunch time and they didn't. Period

Yes you hit your free throws.

[AHF]

Yes you hit your free throws.

 

Duke fans don't see it.  The extra possessions and trips to the line are just part of the game to them.  The fact that they do other things well and win a close game means the extra calls didn't matter.  The easier matchups don't mean anything because they played in the ACC in the regular season and earned that favorable matchup that their actual seeding and regular season performance didn't earn.  Just let it go!

 

Seriously, I don't begrudge Duke fans celebrating this at all.  They had a great team.  Most teams get some favorable things to help swing the game whether it is a lucky bounce on a shot, a missed shot clock, an extra possession when the ball goes off your finger, etc.  They can take this one to the bank and celebrate, just like I don't begrudge Miami fans enjoying the championships with Wade, Shaq and Lebron.

 

I also don't begrudge other fans resenting Duke's treatment anymore than I begrudge people who resent all the freebie foul calls that superstars like Wade and Lebron get to bail them out -- on both ends of the court.  Duke gets that treatment in college basketball.  Both of them can justify the treatment to themselves by pointing out that Duke, Wade, Lebron, etc. do make great plays at times.  The extra possessions and free throws are just part of the game and non-Duke / Wade / Lebron fans should just accept that and expect their team to overcome the more physical defense, etc. allowed to the favored sons.